Directions: |
Directions:"Well, I'm going to make imitation oyster stew," said Ma, "and you can tell me what you think of it." She took the bowl and set it in the center of the table. The big blue can that held the flour and sifter, and also served as a stool for one of the children to sit on at the table, was nearly empty, and she reached way down ad scraped a big cup of flour from the bottom. "There's more than I thought there was," she said happily. She went to the cupboard that she and Dad had made from orange crates, pulled aside the gingham curtain she had strung across them and got the can of baking powder from the top shelf.
She measured a teaspoon of baking powder and sprinkled it on the flour that she had poured into the sifter. The children watched as she put a pinch of salt on it and sifted all of it into the bowl. "I don't have any shortening or eggs," she said, "but maybe a pinch of soda will help," so she added some of that, too. There was a little cream that she had skimmed off the morning's milk, so she added it with some more milk to the mixture and stirred it lightly into stiff dough. She took the big white enameled kettle that she used to make soup in, and set it on the stove. She filled it nearly full with milk. She gave Clara a big spoon and told her to take a turn stirring the milk to a boil, and then Pauline could take her turn. Ma explained that the milk had to be stirred so it wouldn't burn because Ted and Charlotte had filled the stove with wood and the top of the kitchen range was very hot. Marie set the table. There were only three bowls, so Ma told her to put cups in the rest of the places and to put a spoon beside each one.
When the milk was hot, Ma seasoned it with salt and pepper. There wasn't any butter, but Ma said that it was whole milk and that should make it taste real good. She took the dough mixture and dropped small teaspoons of it into the simmering milk until it was all gone. She covered the pan with the lid and put it on the back of the stove where it wasn't so hot. "We have to wait twelve minutes so the dough balls will get done in the middle," she said. "If anyone takes the lid off, they will be soggy."
There wasn't any clock. George had knocked it off the stand by Ma's and Dad's bed and it had broken into pieces, so Ma and Dad had to guess the time by the sun, and they did a good job of it, too, as the children always got to school on time. "Let's sing some songs," said Ma. "When we get through with three songs, our imitation oyster stew will be done." So they all sang "The Cowboy's Lament, Marching Through Georgia," and "Pretty Red Wing" last because it was everybody's favorite.
When the all the songs were sung, Ma took the stew off the stove and everybody took their place at the table. Pauline sat on the small cream can. Clara sat on the flour can. Marie sat on the big cream can and Charlotte, Ted and Goldie sat on the high bench behind the table against the wall. Ma sat on her chair with George on her lap. Dad's chair was empty. The family hoped he would soon be home and they wanted his chair ready when he got there.
Ma dished out the stew, with Pauline and Clara staring at it skeptically. The rest of the children had so much faith in Ma that they started eating it at once. "It's good," said Charlotte. "I hope you made a lot." Pauline took a spoonful. "Why, it's dumplings!" she exclaimed, "little dumplings. I thought you needed lard and eggs for them."
"I do," confessed Ma, "When I have them." All of the children ate the imitation oyster stew and they all thought it was delicious. |
This recipe for Great Grandma Polly's Imitation Oyster Stew is from